Health Tip: Screening for Cancer in Older Adults

(HealthDay News) — Though a healthy diet and exercising regularly will help prevent cancer as you age, you shouldn’t ignore cancer screening tests, the American Cancer Society warns.

Otherwise, you may not realize that you have the disease until it’s too late, the society says, stressing that early-stage cancer doesn’t always have obvious symptoms.

The ACS recommends these tests for men over 65:

  • Colon cancer.
  • Prostate cancer.
  • Lung cancer, especially if you have smoked.

And for women 65 and older:

  • Breast cancer (mammogram, at least every two years).
  • Cervical cancer.
  • Colon cancer.
  • Lung cancer, especially if you have smoked.